Do you suffer from asthma attacks or other symptoms? The following article has simple advice for keeping asthma under control.
What triggers your asthma? Learning about your type of asthma will help you manage its impact on your life. If you have exercised-induced asthma, for example, you’ll want to bring your inhaler with you to the gym or other locations where you might be involved in physical activity. Learn what activities trigger your symptoms, and prepare accordingly so that you’re never caught without your inhaler during an asthma attack.
Ensure your child is never around smoke to handle their asthma. One of the biggest reasons people have asthma is secondhand smoke. Keep your child away from any area where people are smoking.
If you have any children who suffer from asthma, avoid smoking around them at all costs. Secondhand smoke is a trigger for asthma attacks, not to mention the myriad of other diseases it can cause. You should never put your children in a situation where they are exposed to people who are smoking.
Stay away from anything that you are aware of that may trigger your asthma. For some people, this can be pollen or other allergy triggers. Others find themselves suffering from attacks when they overexert themselves. You need to determine what your triggers are so that you can avoid them.
Asthma is a disease that is ongoing and must be attended to every day. Make sure you are taking the right medications to control your everyday asthma symptoms, and have a quick relief medication on hand if you have an attack. Your physician and allergist are the ones to approach with any questions you have about this disease and its treatment.
Asthma is ongoing. Therefore, it also requires continual management of your health. Make sure you are taking the right medications to control your everyday asthma symptoms, and have a quick relief medication on hand if you have an attack. Talk to your doctor and allergist to see what is the best idea for you.
If you are suffering from a moderate or mild attack, do your best to force as much air out of the lungs as possible. Breathe out quick and forcefully. Force your lungs to expel as much air as possible. Take three short breaths, and then take a fourth, deeper breath to fill your lungs comfortably; then, breathe out with force again. This will force you to pay careful attention to all of your breaths. This is a good way to empty your lungs and let more air come in. This may cause you to cough or it may cause phlegm, but your breathing will be back to normal again.
If you are having an attack that is not severe, push as much air out of the lungs as possible. Breathe out aggressively, as hard as you can. Expel the air in your lungs with great force! Inhale a series of three quick breaths, followed by a deeper one, before exhaling with force again. This will force you to pay careful attention to all of your breaths. When air is forcefully exhaled, it allows a fresh intake of air to fill your lungs. This breathing technique may cause some coughing or sputum, but it can help regulate your breathing and reduce the attack.
Asthma sufferers should avoid smoking cigarettes and any place that has cigarette smoke. Asthmatics should also never smoke. Avoid breathing in vapors from smoke or other chemical-type fumes. This may cause an asthma attack you can’t stop. Never visit a home or establishment where people will be smoking, and if people start to smoke, walk out.
Consider getting allergy shots if you have asthma that is caused by allergies that aren’t under control. Ask your allergist about omalizumab, an antibody drug that can reduce the severity of asthma symptoms and the frequency of attacks.
When you are having a difficult time with asthma, you might want to use a leukotriene inhibitor. There are modern medicines that are highly effective at blocking leukotrienes. A leukotriene will cause inflammation in the respiratory system, causing an asthma attack. The inhibitor can prevent them and decrease your asthma attacks.
If you’ve got asthma, don’t smoke or be near smokers. You can suffer an asthma attack if you are around cigarette smoke because it makes your lungs function poorly. You are even more exposed to an attack when the smoke is in a closed-in room or area.
Use your inhaler as directed. Try to locate a calming location, and be certain to adhere to any directions given by the inhaler’s maker. The inhaler will only work if the medicine reaches your lungs. Spray the dosage into the mouth while you inhale air. Allow the mist to fill up your lungs by holding your breath at least ten seconds.
Realize what triggers your attacks, and you can avoid or manage these situations. There are some quite common triggers that can invoke an attack in asthma sufferers, for example cigarette smoke, pollen, or pet hair and dander. Whenever possible, avoid those substances that trigger either symptoms or full-blown attacks.
If you suffer from asthma, make sure that you consume enough Vitamin C and Vitamin E. It is widely believed that these vitamins can help control asthma symptoms by improving lung function. You can take these vitamins in pill form, or you can eat fresh fruits and vegetables and get the vitamins that way. These vitamins can improve your immune system to prevent asthma triggers.
Many of the biggest triggers for asthma can, and do, exist in your home. These include dust, mold and spores. If you want to prevent and manage these sources of asthma attacks, have regular home inspections by a professional, and get identified harming agents cleaned out. Additionally, cleaning your home on a regular schedule prevents these unwanted visitors from taking residence en masse.
Receiving a flu shot annually is very important if you or a loved one are asthmatic. Make sure your child’s vaccinations are up-to-date to avoid as many infections as possible.
Asthma is a disease that can develop slowly over time, making it sometimes difficult to spot the symptoms. There have been a few cases where a person dies from their first attack, because they didn’t know they suffered from the condition. So, if you have a lingering cough or instances of troubled breathing, you should see a doctor to see if you might have asthma and determine whether you may need medication to either prevent or treat asthma.
Make sure you know what triggers asthma attacks so you can either avoid those triggers or be prepared to manage your asthma symptoms. A lot of people who suffer from asthma have the same triggers, pet dander, smoke, or pollen. When possible, stay away from triggers of asthma symptoms in an effort to prevent a severe attack.
If you are traveling by plane and must bring inhalers or nebulizers on board, you should bring a written prescription for the equipment. When you have written proof that these items are necessary it can help speed along the security procedures.
If you have asthma, use a pillow that doesn’t have feathers in it. Feathers can trigger asthma symptoms and reduce lung function. Same thing with bedding – purchase sheets and a comforter that are constructed from hypoallergenic materials.
Keep an asthma diary and record how often, each week, you must use a rescue inhaler. If your records start to show you need the inhaler more than two times weekly, your environment might be causing you problems or your asthma is not being controlled as well as it could be. If you notice an increased use in your inhaler, reexamine your management plan and check for any changes in your surroundings that may be triggering the asthma.
If you need to travel with your asthma medication, particularly if you plan on bringing a nebulizer or other large equipment, it can be helpful to obtain a letter from your doctor explaining their use. If you have written proof about the item you have,and that it is medically necessary, there will be less hassles going through security.
Instead of sweeping your floors, clean them with a damp mop. Vacuuming or wet-mopping are better than sweeping because they don’t stir up dust and debris that might induce an asthma attack. A damp rag should be used when dusting because a feather duster can cause dust to kick up and lead to an asthma attack.
Using your preventative inhaler should be done daily. It’s important to know, though, that it can cause sores and infections near your gums and teeth. You can prevent this by brushing your teeth and gargling immediately following the use of your inhaler.
Have more than one medical professional look at your asthma problems. While your asthma treatment should start with your primary care doctor, visiting one or two asthma specialists can make a real difference in how well you understand and manage your condition. Think about going to a pulmonologist, an allergist or even a nutritionist, depending on what is triggering your attacks.
Use a mop that’s wet to clean your floors instead of a broom. When you sweep, you are stirring up asthma triggers that can cause you to have an asthma attack. Use damp rags instead of a dry feather duster so triggers won’t be filling the air.
People who suffer from asthma should stay inside as much as they can when the pollen count is up. Asthma symptoms are not the same as allergic reactions, but allergies and asthma attacks have many common triggers. You can get the information about air quality in the area you are in; people who suffer from asthma should stay indoors if their air quality is low.
Have more than one medical professional look at your asthma problems. Although your primary doctor can treat your asthma, a specialist may be able to provide further help. Pulmonologists, allergists, asthma centers and nutritionists can help you take advantage of the many treatments available to those with asthma.
This article is filled with useful tips for you. However, the biggest factor will be how determined you are to apply them. If you ignore warning signs and neglect to vigilantly care for your asthma, your asthma symptoms will come back stronger than ever. By following the tips in this article, you will be able to manage asthma better.
Asthma sufferers need to stay inside as much as they can when the air’s pollen content is high. Although asthma is not an allergy, many of the same irritants that trouble allergy sufferers affect asthma sufferers too. Air quality readings are often available locally, and utilizing this information is key in minimizing exposure to harmful airborne irritants.